Saw Butternut squash at the grocery store and thought that soon it will be time to make my favorite soup ever. I was sure I blogged about it, but I just ran thru my posts and darn it if I couldn't find it. So I looked it up on-line and there is the link for it above. It's super super good. You must try it! From Cooking Light magazine!
I have the ingredients to try some new recipes I took from Food Network Magazine and some old Women's Day and Rachel Ray magazines. Here is the problem, I took out the recipes and put them in a blue file folder. And now I can't find it anywhere. Tom swears he's seen it, but tis no where to be found. Grr. I need the recipes to go with my ingredients! They were all new recipes and I have no clue how to make them w/o the recipes! Ack!
So tomorrow I am going for a long run, I need to get in 10-12 miles for sure, I haven't run since Tues! Good thing I ran 15 miles on Mon and 5 on Tues, never the less, not enough running. It's totally Tom's fault he golfed alllllllllllll day on Sat and golfed until 5pm today.
So then tomorrow much running, some BBQ and then everyone needs to get to bed early b/cause we all have work or school in the AM! I'll be starting week 2 at my new full time job where it is very quiet. And they pay me for my time. Quite different than my time at home rearing children. When you are raising your kids, it's very loud and you don't get paid. You don't get any vacation time either. Oh sure, your spouse may think when the family takes a vacation that you the mother is also having a vacation, but we know better don't we stay at home parents? Yes, a family vacation should be paid at time and a half and you should get PTO (paid time off) for every hour of the vacation!
Never the less, the kids are adjusting well to me working, and they only started crying when I answered the question, so will you be at my halloween party?
No, I won't.
But considering there is 1 of me and 3 of them at 3 different schools all of which have their halloween parties on the same day and time--two of them would be losing out anyway, so at least now they don't have hurt feelings that I didn't 'chose' to come to their party.
Golden Winter Soup Frm Cooking Light Magazine
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
3 tablespoons chopped chives
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Preparation
Preheat broiler.
Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.
Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.
Wine note: This is one vegetable soup that can easily handle a lighter red wine. Stick with the French theme and look for bargains from Burgundy, like Louis Jadot Pinot Noir 2005 ($20). This wine has pretty red berry fruit, great balance, and gentle tannins that make it ideal for lower-fat dishes. The underlying earthy, leathery flavors bring out the rustic nuances of the potatoes and squash. —Jeffery
